BELGRADE, ZAGREB (March 23, 2015)

Nenad Popović, one of the Croatian publishers of renown, told me years ago that publishing a book in English in Zagreb, let alone anywhere else in Croatia, would be nigh impossible. He would only wave his hand at my protestations. When I would remind him of my books published in Belgrade, he would just laugh. In spite of his advice, I have been trying to find a publisher for my last book about the legal troubles foisted upon me by the former mayor of Motovun. So far, there has been no sign of interest from any of them. When I mentioned Popović’s advice to one of them, all I got was laughter. And plenty of it. Although my book is about corruption and organized crime surrounding golf development in Croatia, it apparently has no chance in any language other than Croatian. I do not dare even mention my books in English published in Belgrade, and by different publishers. God forbid. From the perspective of publishers in Zagreb, the two cities are not on the same planet, nor in the same galaxy. So, why ever mention them in the same breath?